Pros & Cons:

While I didn’t experience it, there have been a lot of reports of log-in issues.

Features:

I’m not going to talk about the Restaurant.com service here, since this is an app interface for an existing business. The service is that you can pre-purchase meals or gift cards at restaurants, getting a discount for doing so through them.

If you use Restaurant.com to purchase deals for dining out, then this is the Android app for you. It allows you to access your account, and view and purchase deals directly via the app, rather than having to either find a computer or try to access it via a mobile browser.

I really liked that it used my GPS coordinates to find deals that were near me. For someone traveling, who has an account with them, this is a great feature. You can also search by city, so if you’re getting ready to travel and want to plan ahead, you can, or you can wait until you’re there and see what’s around. Either way, for me, it worked great.

The caveat is that while I had no problems creating and using the account, I’ve seen a lot of users who have. Log-in issues seem to be the biggest problem, so keep that in mind when you’re looking at using the app. If you’re a member/user of the site already, it’s still worth installing to see if you have those issues, since it makes the whole process much easier to do on the go.

Restaurant Main

Restaurant Local Deals

Restaurant Deal Details

Restaurant Purchase

Usefulness:

If you already use this service, then the app is incredibly useful. And if you like “deal” apps where you get discounts for buying with the group, or committing to purchasing a set amount, then it’s also going to be something you’ll really find a use for.

Ease of Use:

I didn’t have any troubles at all with the app, despite reports of other users having log-in issues. I found it to be very easy to navigate, and finding and buying a local deal near me was pretty painless.

Frequently Used:

This actually depends on the individual user, and how much you like to pre-purchase deals. For the power user, I can see this being a real go-to app when it comes to planning nights out. For the average user, it’s going to be a great tool to use when you’re traveling or just want to be frugal and get the best bang for your buck.

Interface:

I actually found the interface to be pretty clean and simple. It’s mostly text, which, considering it’s all about describing the deal you’re buying, completely makes sense. There are pictures in the listings themselves, and you can access things like maps to the restaurants so you can make better decisions about where you want to buy deals, but overall, the interface is very easy to navigate around and use.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

(4.0 out of 5)

Should you Download Restaurant.com? For anyone who already uses Restaurant.com, or who loves deal apps, this is a great example. There have been reports of some log-in issues with users, so keep that in mind, but I found it easy to use and had no problems in my testing. Overall, I thought it was a solid app to find deals at restaurants.

I don’t, personally, use the service myself except for what I needed to do to test the app. My review was based solely on the performance of the app itself, and not on the service, and I tried to focus more on how the app worked and if it did what it was advertised to do. I’d be interested in getting more feedback on why you think the service itself is a rip-off, however. As I understood the service, it’s a lot like a Groupon or other deals app where you get a discount for purchasing through them, but it helps drive traffic that might not otherwise have come in the door to the restaurants.